TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK, NEW ZEALAND — Today, we hiked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in this national park, which stood in for Mordor in the “Lord of the Rings” movies. Continue reading “Hiking in Frodo’s footsteps”
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND — My brain has a hard time with Polynesian and Maori names: Roto-rooter, Ratatouille, Ringo all stuck in my brain as I asked for information about Rangitoto Island, today’s destination. Continue reading “Finally hiking”
VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK, HAWAII — We got up before sunrise today and hiked a half-mile on a trail from the campground to the Jagger museum overlook. There were more steam vents visible than yesterday and the lava in the caldera emitted a lot of ash this morning, which turned orange with the rising sun. Continue reading “Into the volcano — again”
HO’OKENA BEACH, HAWAII —One last breakfast, one last swim and then it’s time to vacate our ocean paradise for a fiery national park. Continue reading “Leaving paradise”
HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK – I think we peaked too soon. We got to hang out with a pod of playful dolphins on the second full day of our trip? Really?
Next stop: Munich 